Mississippi Bedrock from Eads Bridge Pier

This stone fragment, recovered from beneath the east pier of the Eads Bridge in St. Louis, commemorates one of the nineteenth century's boldest engineering undertakings. Chief engineer James B. Eads designed and oversaw construction of the first bridge to span the Mississippi River, completed in 1874. The bridge's steel arches and innovative pneumatic caisson foundations solved unprecedented technical challenges. The specimen was collected by Gustavus Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Lincoln, as a souvenir of American industrial progress. The bridge connected Illinois to Missouri and remained a engineering landmark for decades.